The Ultra Experience

Here's to the adventures of my life which are usually ultra marathon trail running or fly fishing but may include other trips, experiences, thoughts, opinions, or pretty much whatever I want. As co-founder of Altra Footwear my life and adventures seemingly revolve more around developing and promoting the best footwear in the world...and I love it!

Saturday, September 13, 2008

Wasatch 100

Although I was merely pacing Wasatch this year, it was great to be part of the experience which is the Wasatch 100. I wasn't able to get to Lamb's Canyon until later than I wanted but I was able to see a great group pass through, most of them friends I've met through Runner's Corner or in the ultra world: Phil Lowry, Shane Martin, Shaun Christian, Greg Norrander, Scott Kunz, Jim Skaggs, and many others. It was fun and exciting being there.

Soon the group I would be pacing came in: Dan Mitchell, Matt Galland, and Danny Bryson. They had a solid break but soon the four of us were heading out of Lambs Canyon. By the time we got to Upper Big Water Matt was falling back. His knee was hurting something fierce but we pushed on. Desolation aid station I had a chat with him about not forgetting to eat due to the knee pain but he was falling behind fast. Dan and Danny were taking longer than needed at the aid station and they made the difficult decision to leave him. Matt unfortunately dropped at Scott's Tower. Dan and Danny however were both feeling great heading into Brighton. I was going to stop at Brighton but they both talked me into running to the finish. I was excited and grabbed everything I needed out of my car. With Matt out of the race the group dwindled and Danny took off, finishing in 28:38! Considering we left Brighton at 2:45am he must of cruised!

Dan Mitchell and I weren't slouching either. Dan really took care of himself at the aid stations and we cruised to the finish in a time of 29:26 without getting passed by a single runner from Brighton to the finish! It was an emotional experience with his whole family including his 4 kids holding signs and running the last 1/2 mile in with him. There sure is something special about running 100 miles!

For me it was a great 47 mile training run and now I'm tapering for the Bear 100 in two weeks. This new course seems exciting! Anyway, Happy Autumn Trails!